Posted By John Donaldson A colleague in the University sector recently circulated the information below which I understand came from a Local Government Officers discussion list. ************************ “Thank you for your e-mail dated 14th April in which you seek advice about the application of the Data Protection Act 1998. The situation in regard to 'Accident Books' was brought to the Commissioner' s attention sometime ago. Essentially the employer is obliged by various legislation to keep such records however they are also obliged to have procedures in place to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. As the standard printed Accident Book was apparently developed before the advent of data protection legislation and certainly before the introduction of the Human Rights Act it appears that questions of security or disclosure of personal data and the related wider issues of confidentiality and privacy may not have been considered at the time The standard pre-printed accident book provides spaces for two entries on each A4 (Landscape) page. The effect of this is that anyone making a new entry in the book cannot avoid seeing the personal data contained in as many as three previous entries. It was clear from the notes at the front of the standard printed Accident Book that it should be made accessible to employees at any reasonable time but this appears to mean accessible in the sense that it is available for staff to make entries - not so that they can have sight of entries by other people. We took the matter up with the Department for Work and Pensions and as a result steps were taken by the Industrial Injuries Unit and HSE, in co operation with the Information Commissioner to produce a new standard Accident Book and procedural instructions as to how the records should be maintained in order to comply with all the legislation concerned. I understand that not all organisations use the standard Accident Book however the same data protection issues will arise and in such cases the standard procedural instructions in the new Accident Book should be applied in order to comply with the Data Protection Principles. I hope that the above is of some help. Compliance Officer"

Posted By Saccha Johnson I, too, have heard that the accident book is to change and that all UK companies must have it by the end of the year but I couldn't find anything on the HSE website. Also, does this affect accident records maintained electronically?